The Discalced Carmelites of Compiègne: Real Heroes of Jesus

I find no better words to describe these great heroes of Jesus, the Discalced Carmelites of Compiègne. Theirs was an outstanding witness which, with that sweet and eternal tenderness of Christ, filled their entire being and literally squashed away the cowardly reign of terror of the revolutionaries in France.

Their innocent blood shed on 17 July 1794, amply answered their remarkable offer for the salvation of their beloved country. That famous prayer which this fabulous community started praying from November 1792, in the Carmel of Compiègne, found its crowning by the martyrdom for Christ. Their shining example teaches us that we really love our countries when we pray for them and do acts of penance for their eventual return to God’s ways. The irony is that before the world, who was and still is blind to Christ’s light, such extraordinary people were unjustly depicted as the enemies of the People. However, and in actual fact, their heroic sacrifice and love for their native soil greatly showed that they were truly the greatest friends of the People they were killed for.

For these Carmelite heroines, together with 24 other prisoners, we can easily apply to them the prophecy found in the Book of Revelation for the hundred and forty-four thousand. Here, John writes: And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpers playing on their harps, and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are chaste; it is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes; these have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are spotless (Rev 14:2-5).

The outstanding witness of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne is a powerful manifestation as to how women religious entered into the course of human events and changed them from within. Their ultimate sacrifice helped bring the Reign of Terror to a close.

Theirs was not an event which happened haphazardly. On the contrary, there had been a journey of preparation that all kicked off with a dream. In 1693, a 29-year-old disabled lay woman boarding in the Carmel of Compiègne dreamt of Jesus accompanied by His mother, Saint Teresa of Avila, as well as two other Carmelites related to the monastery. After receiving personal instructions about her own vocation, she had a vision wherein she saw a number of Carmelites who were being chosen “to follow the Lamb.”

The second phase of this dream is to be found in the year 1786. Here we encounter Mother Teresa of Saint Augustine, the newly-elected prioress of the same monastery, who managed to find an account of the vision Sister Elisabeth Baptiste had received before taking her vows as a Carmelite. Mother Teresa started feeling that the dream was, in fact, a prophecy concerning her own community.

A few years later, when France was dramatically and violently plunged into the French Revolution, the Reign of Terror started showing its real cruel colors. In February 1790, the provisional suspension of religious vows was definitively ratified once for all. Then, on August 4, the Carmelite community’s possessions were inventoried. A day later, each of the nuns was interrogated and presented with the opportunity to renounce her vows. To the anger of the Revolutionary Directors assigned with the task, every single nun boldly expressed her firm conviction to remain faithful to her vows until death.

On Easter 1792, two days after the wearing of the religious habit became illegal on April 6, the dream was shared with other community members. Events were swiftly unfolding towards the actualization of the dream. By August, all women monasteries were ordered closed and evacuated; the sequestering of their possessions swiftly ensued.

The 20 Carmelites of Compiègne evacuated their monastery on September 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Thanks to the help of friends, they managed to allocate themselves in four various places from where they were able to get one set of civilian clothing. They could not afford to buy a change of clothing. Obviously their request for funds from the government went unanswered.

In spite of this incredible hostility, God’s love kept filling the hearts of these great Carmelites of God. After a short time Mother Teresa of St Augustine started sharing with the four oldest choir sisters with whom she lived a proposal to invite the entire community to offer their lives for the salvation of France, in imitation of St Teresa of Avila who reformed Carmel for that express intention. At first things were difficult for her. Two hours after they showed resistance, two senior nuns asked forgiveness from their Prioress for their lack of courage and determinedly undertook this holy initiative. Encouraged by their remarkable yes, Mother Teresa invited the remaining community members to offer themselves for the salvation of France.

In this manner, from November 27, each nun daily prayed an act of self-offering for the salvation of France. This special prayer was written by the prioress. At the end, an intention was added for the release of those who had been arrested and that fewer people would be guillotined.

On June 21, 1794, soldiers came and searched the nuns’ living quarters. The following day, the nuns were arrested on evidence which was found during the search that they continued to live a life of consecration and also that they were monarchy sympathizers. The now 16-member Carmelite community were imprisoned in a former Visitation convent together with 17 English Benedictines. After the bursting into their convent on July 17 in which all sisters were found dressed in their religious habits, it was decided that they were to be sent to Paris for trial. It was on that same day that these 16 Carmelite nuns, along with 24 other prisoners, were found guilty of being “enemies of the People” and immediately sentenced to death. Every nun prepared herself for the actualization of the prophetic dream. They would soon be following the Lamb.

On that same evening, the nuns’ voices singing the Divine Office filled the streets of Paris as they were paraded toward the executioner’s block. Confronted with such love for Jesus, the executioner felt duty-bound to let the nuns finish their prayers for the dying, which included the singing of the Te Deum. Following the subsequent singing of the Veni Creator Spiritus, and the renewal of their vows, the nuns went one by one to the scaffold, received a final blessing from their Prioress, kissed a statuette of Our Lady, and followed gladly the sacrificial Lamb.

Their holy blood which was shed for the love of Jesus and France as well led to the arrest and execution of Robespierre some eleven days after their martyrdom. It was a clear sign from Heaven that the Lord accepted their act of sacrificial offering of their lives.

These heroic Martyrs of Compiègne were beatified by Pope Pius X in 1909. Amazing is the last verse addressed in a special way to Our Lady from a chant that these brave sisters composed while they were taken just before they were executed. 

Holy Virgin, our model, August queen of martyrs, deign to strengthen our zeal / And purify our desires, protect France even yet, help us mount to Heaven, / Make us feel even in these places, the effects of your power.  Sustain your children, / Submissive, obedient, dying with Jesus and in our King believing.

In her book The Way of Perfection, chapter 2, no. 2, Saint Teresa of Avila writes: By His command we came here. His words are true; they cannot fail; rather, heaven and earth will fail [cf. Lk 21:33]. Let us not fail Him; do not fear that He will fail you. And if some time He should fail you, it will be for a greater good. The lives of the saints failed when they were killed because of the Lord, but this happened so that through martyrdom their glory would be increased. It would be a good exchange to give up everything for the enjoyment of everlasting abundance.

Was this not the incredible witness given by the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne?

Let us pray the Lord through their intercession fully confident that they are praying for us in front of God’s Heavenly Throne: